City Council: New Albany selects local firm as law director
Fishel Downey Albrecht & Riepenhoff LLP is to continue to provide law services for the city of New Albany following the retirement of Mitch Banchefsky last year.
City Council May 17 agreed to hire the firm, which provided services on an interim basis until a new law director was chosen.
A slate of four firms applied.
Specifically, Ben Albrecht, a partner in the firm, was performing the duties of law director after Banchefsky retired.
Banchefsky made $148,255 in 2021. Albrecht’s firm was paid $10,000 per month on an interim basis and is to be paid $12,000 a month beginning June 1. That equates to $144,000 annually; the contract runs through the end of 2023.
“Ben has worked with the city on various legal issues during the past decade, including labor negotiations,” City Manager Joe Stefanov said. “His counsel has been very well received, and he also performed the functions of city attorney at a high level on an interim basis.
“Feedback on his work performance among senior staff was very high,” Stefanov said. “Additionally, his firm is located in New Albany. All of the law firms we interviewed were very capable, but Ben has proven himself to be an asset to our organization.”
Banchefsky had said the job “is never dull,” something with which Albrecht agrees.
“The ‘challenge' arises in the wide array of questions that come up on a rather frequent basis from across all departments in the city,” Albrecht said.
“However, the ‘challenge’ of assisting city staff to help meet their objectives, regardless of the matter, is what makes the opportunity fun and exciting.”
David Moser, an associate at Fishel Downey Albrecht & Riepenhoff, is to fill in and assist as needed. Moser already prosecutes cases on behalf of the city
City officials had said they considered hiring a full-time city attorney on staff but believed the contracted legal service was the most cost-effective and efficient method at the time.
gseman@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekGary
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: City Council: New Albany selects local firm as law director
